The second major of 2026 tees off on Thursday with the start of the 108th PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club outside of Philadelphia.
Can Scottie Scheffler repeat? Can Rory McIlroy claim his second consecutive major to begin the year? Or will a darkhorse emerge from the 156-player field? Our golf experts preview the tournament and provide their favorite prop picks along with best bets to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy.
108th PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
Location: Philadelphia, May 14-17
Course: Aronimink Golf Club (Par 70, 7,394 Yards)
Purse: TBA ($19M in 2025; Winner: $3.42 million)
Defending Champion: Scottie Scheffler
FedEx Cup Leader: Cameron Young
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday: Noon-7 p.m. ET (ESPN), 7-8 p.m. (ESPN2); Friday: Noon-8 p.m. (ESPN); Saturday-Sunday: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. (ESPN), 1-7 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 7 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.
X: @PGAChampionship
PROP PICKS
–Ludvig Aberg to Beat Xander Schauffele (+100 at DraftKings): Aberg remains a superior talent who struggles to put together four quality rounds. But the young Swede continues to put his name near the top of the leaderboard, with five top-5 finishes in his past six starts — all at marque events — with the exception a T21 at the Masters. Schauffele already has one PGA title in his trophy case and has enjoyed a solid start to 2026. He’s also coming off a T60 last week where he failed to break 72 in each of his final three rounds.
–Scottie Scheffler Top 5 Finish (-110 at BetMGM): There is a reason Scheffler has been backed by the most bets of any player to finish in the top 5. In addition to being the defending champion, Scheffler enters with runner-up finishes in three consecutive starts. He also won the AmEx in February to begin a stretch of three consecutive top-4 finishes.
–Sudarshan Yellamaraju Top Canadian (+280 at DraftKings): Yellamaraju claimed the final spot in the field with a surge to tie for 19th at last week’s Truist Championship. It continued the stunning rise for Yellamaraju, the self-taught 24-year-old whose family moved to Canada from India when he was 4. Yellamaraju has made 10 consecutive cuts and finished T5 at The Players. He does face some stiff veteran competition in this prop, with Corey Conners offered at +205 and Nick Taylor at +220, while Taylor Pendrith at +300 is also a PGA Tour winner.
BEST BETS
–Scheffler (+385 at DraftKings) won his first start of the season and has three consecutive runner-up finishes, including at the Masters. He is also the second biggest liability at BetMGM, where Scheffler has been backed by the most total bets at 13.7% and the most money at 23.2%.
–McIlroy (+900) owns a pair of PGA Championship victories and has 11 top-25s in 17 career starts. He has been backed by the third-most total bets at 5.8%.
–Jon Rahm (+1400) finished T8 last year, with his best previous event finish a T4 at Bellerive in 2018.
–Cameron Young (+1475) is a two-time winner this year and was in contention last week before a final-round 74. He is still seeking his first major title. Young’s odds have shortened from +1650 at DraftKings on Tuesday. He is also second to Scheffler at BetMGM in most bets (9.6%) and money (9.8%) backing him to win this week.
–Bryson DeChambeau (+1900) has finished runner-up each of the past two years and is coming off a third place at LIV Golf Virginia.
–Matt Fitzpatrick (+2300) already is a three-time winner this season. His best previous finish in 10 PGA Championships was a T5 in 2022.
–Tommy Fleetwood (+2800) shot a pair of course-record 62s at Aronimink in 2018 and is coming off a T5 at the Truist Championship.
–Jordan Spieth (+6600) remains BetMGM’s biggest liability has he makes a 10th attempt at completing the career Grand Slam. “Scottie Scheffer and the in-form Cameron Young are great results for customers in the outright market for the PGA Championship,” BetMGM senior trader Matt Wall said. “However, the biggest liability currently is Jordan Spieth as BetMGM customers dream of the former world No. 1 finally completing the career grand slam.”
NOTES
–Originally designed by Donald Ross in 1926, Aronimink will play host to the PGA Championship for the second time and the first since Gary Player’s victory in 1962. Keegan Bradley won the 2018 BMW Championship held at Aronimink, where he beat Justin Rose in a playoff. The course has been lengthened 114 yards since then.
–The 156-player field will be cut to the top 70 and ties after 36 holes.
–Scheffler seeks to become the first player to successfully defend at the PGA Championship since Brooks Koepka in 2019, while McIlroy can become the first player since Spieth in 2015 to win the first two majors of the year.
–Spieth will be making his 10th attempt at completing the career Grand Slam.
–Jake Knapp withdrew Monday due to a thumb injury and was replaced in the field by Tom Hoge.
–The last international player to win the PGA Championship was Jason Day in 2015, the longest such streak at any major. This year’s field includes players from 26 different counties.
–Adam Scott will make his 99th consecutive start in a major. Jack Nicklaus is the only player in history with more than 100 consecutive starts in majors.
–Field Level Media
